With 2 out of 2 Proteus one/two results in recent local open meetings, it is clear the Craig Richards design is not a dog and worth exploring. The design is not finished yet as there are always tweaks to be made and we have only raced in flat water conditions.
Attached are some pictures to show more of the details.
Starting at the front, the jib tie down eyes are counter sunk. I have to say I prefer the eyes rather the the slot and magnets I had on my Alioth. The jib tie down is adjustable and I have a choice of two lines. A single 80lb breaking strain line for light weather and a stronger doubled up line for more wind. These are easily interchangeable if the conditions change as both are permanently attached. I copied the VISS tie down arrangement after seeing Zvonko's boat at the worlds. Thank you Zvonko. In light weather I run the boom a cm off the deck which allows it to rotate more freely and in a breeze I set the boom on the deck. Because of the design of the relatively low deck on the boat and the design of the jib, I carry more mast rake than most to keep the jib boom (and main boom) parallel to the deck
If you look at the kicker you maybe able to see that the boom attachment is only 60mm from the back of the mast. This is so the well can be made smaller. The band is 67mm from the deck mark but if I lower this band the kicker becomes unmanageable. I still use cable ties for the cunningham which I prefer to a bowsie.
Inside the boat is a neat cartridge which is glued to the back of the fin box and holds the battery (45gm in the bottom of the boat), the rudder servo and receiver. I use a 300mm carbon fibre control rod (off ebay) which connects the tiller to the rudder servo.
Looking down the inside of the boat, you see the cartridge and the winch bracket glued onto the front of the fin box. Hidden in the picture behind the cartridge are 300gm of correctors. Note there are no stiffeners inside for the shrouds as the strength comes from the round design of the mid section. There is on small detail I need to fix and that is the long shroud screw which needs to be trimmed. This is a prototype.
The aft deck is very clean and only one pulley in sight. There is no friction in the sheets running through fixed faileads.
The hull is made in 4 pieces and a single sheet of glass apllied to the lower half.
The picture below shows how the booms get close to the deck. We are not looking for an end plate effect as these boats are too small for that but it does seem to be aerodynamically more efficient. The engine is powered by a beautiful set of BG sails. Yes I could have applie more cunningham but I did not want to pull the fullness any further forward.
Overall I think Craig has designed a really neat boat. It is so well thought through and simple in layout but as I said on a previous post the secret is in setting up the rig to make it fast.
More on this as Craig develops the concept. Do bear in mind we have not competed against the top competition so are not sure if we have a winner or not.
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